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Why The U- S- President 
Must Not Wear Uniform 



BY 

WOODROW WILSON 
President of the United States 



WITH A PEN PORTRAIT OF THE PRESIDENT 
BY GUIDO BRUNO 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 
NEW YORK, 1918 



Why The U- S» President 
Must Not Wear Uniform 



BY 

WOODROW WILSON 

w 
President of the United States 



WITH A PEN PORTRAIT OF THE PRESIDENT 
BY GUIDO BRUNO 



PRIVATELY PRINTED 
NEW YORK, 1918 



Copyright 1918 
By Guido Bruno 









Why "Bruno's Bohemia" For September 
Omitted the Cover Design 



WE intended to publish on the cover of our Septem- 
ber issue an etching of President Wilson by Mr. 
Wall. The etching shows President Wilson in United 
States uniform. Mr. Wall conceived his inspiration dur- 
ing an address delivered by President Wilson before the 
United States Spanish War Veterans at a convention held 
in Atlantic City in 1912, when Mr. Wilson was Governor 
of New Jersey. In this speech, the President emphasized 
that he had never been a soldier or had any military 
training, but that he was nevertheless a fighter in the 
cause of righteousness. With this in mind, and in this 
great period of the world's history, the President being 
the Commander-in-Chief of our civil and armed forces, 
Mr. Wall did not think it inappropriate to picture him in 
military fashion. 

President Wilson's letter which we are reprinting on 
the cover page of our September issue is sufficient expla- 
nation why we are abstaining from publishing the por- 
trait. No greater or more significant words could have 
been spoken by the Supreme Chief of our armed forces 
at this time than are set down in his letter. 



THE WHITE HOUSE 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 

8 July, 1918. 
My dear Mr. Wall: 

I warmly and sincerely appreciate the sentiment which 
led you to make the etching of which you were kind 
enough to send me a copy, but I feel bound, in replying 
to your letter of June seventeenth, which was laid before 
me only the other day, to say that there is a sense in 
which putting me in uniform violates a very fundamental 
principle of our institutions, namely, that the military 
power is subordinate to the civil. The framers of the 
Constitution, of course, realized that the President would 
seldom be a soldier and their idea in making him the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United 
States was that the armed forces of the country must be 
the instruments of the authority by which policy was 
determined. It is for that reason that we can so truly 
say that our organization is in no sense and can in no 
sense be militaristic. 

I do not think this is a mere formal scruple on my part. 
I believe it goes to the root of things, and I am sure I may 
thus candidly express it to you without creating the im- 
pression that I do not fully appreciate the motive and the 
idea of your etching, by which I am very much compli- 
mented. 

Sincerely yours, 
WOODROW WILSON. 



Woodrovv Wilson: A Portrait 



A student. .1 teacher. 

The past li-c'es in the present- History and life are 
closely iniked. 

. I quiet observer of life, who reads, z<'ho listois, 
zvho lends his ear to every voice. He n'ci</hs his own 
observations against the theories of a -world, against 
the world's most brUliant mi)ids. Adverse camps in- 
side the nation send their urging advisers . . . hut 
liis decision is always liis own. 

In the cracy-iiuilt of .Imerican history are strong 
red threads with which were stitched together the 
patches of all nations. Strong slitciics they arc, sew)i 
by firm confident lunids. Taiili, humanity, sclf-re- 
liance — sublime forces guided these hands. Patches 
wear out. Others can he had for the asking, so long 
as there is thread to sc:<' thou, so long as there are 
strong luvids to guide the needle. 

Oidy a man of coiiriclions and vision can see the 
light through the night. 

In ]776 colonies of settlers '•ivere set free. 



,1 nation is horn in 1917. 

Ro)uancc, horror, loir, pain, sacrifice, fears and sor- 
roiv liovcr over the cradle. 

One man lias to speak for one liiindrcd millions. One 
nuut has to shoulder the responsibility. 

Freedom for the oppressed ! 

Balm for the hurt. 

J list ice! 

Jnd then Peace on Earth- 
Joy for the iiniz'crse; victory for our nation. 

.1 teacher. A student. 

The f mictions of a nation ore outlined in the history 
of its past. The ideals of the past are safe guardians 
for an ideal future. 

The humanity of a teacher, the z'ision of a statesman, 
the determination of a man. 

The Leader of his Nation. 

August, 1918. 

GuiDO Bruno. 



